Method and system for laminating optical elements

ABSTRACT

[Objects] To make it possible to carry out automatically and accurately a laminating operation of an optical element to a sheet-shaped body. 
     [Means for Accomplishing the Objects] A strip-shaped polarizing film has a protective film strip conformably adhered to one surface thereof and a releasable liner conformably adhered to the other surface thereof and delivered from a film delivering station  1 . After an appearance inspection, a lamination of the protective film strip and the polarizing film strip F is half-cut using a laser unit  11  to form an array of laminations each consisting of a protective film and a polarizing film F, with the releasable liner being left intact. Then, the polarizing films F are fed to a peeling mechanism  4 . The peeling mechanism  4  feeds a forwardmost one the polarizing films F to a laminating mechanism  5  while peeling off the releasable liner therefrom by a knife-edged member. The forwardmost polarizing film F is laminated to a liquid-crystal panel W conveyed to the laminating mechanism by a panel transport apparatus  18  in synchronization of the feeding of the forwardmost polarizing film F.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a method for laminating opticalelements configured to automatically laminate optical elements, such asa polarizing film, a brightness enhancement film (reflecting polarizerfilm) or a phase difference film (retardation film), to a sheet-shapedbody, such as a liquid-crystal panel, in a quick and accurate manner,and a system for carrying out the method.

BACKGROUND ART

A conventional system for laminating an optical element to a substratein the form of a sheet-shaped body has been implemented as follows. Aplurality of substrates are sequentially delivered at a given intervalson one hand, and on the other hand, a continuous-strip-shapedphotosensitive laminate film comprising a photosensitive resin layer anda base film with a protective film laminated thereon is unwound from astock roll while the protective film is removed from the photosensitivelaminate film when the photosensitive laminate film is unwound, andthereafter the photosensitive laminate film is delivered together withthe substrate into a nip between a pair of heat rollers where thephotosensitive film and the substrate are bonded together under heat andpressure. Subsequently, the substrate having the photosensitive laminatefilm strip adhered thereto is cooled, and then only the photosensitiveresin layer strip is cut (hereinafter referred as “half-cut”) alongleading and trailing edges of the substrate in a transfer direction ofthe substrate, the continuous strip of the base film being removed fromthe substrate and collected, and the substrate having the photosensitiveresin layer laminated thereon is transferred to a subsequent processingstation (refer to the following Patent Document 1).

[Patent Document 1] JP Hei 7-157186A

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problem to be Solved by the Invention

Further, in the conventional system, the substrate is conveyed to asubsequent station and handled under a condition that the photosensitiveresin layer is exposed, which causes another problem of dust beingadhered onto the exposed surface resulting in degradation in quality.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances,and has a primary object of providing an optical element laminatingmethod capable of automatically laminating an optical element to asheet-shaped body in a quick and accurate manner, and a system forcarrying out the method.

Means for Solving the Problem

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a method of laminating an optical element to a sheet-shapedbody, which comprises the steps of: providing an optical element stripwhich has a releasable liner conformably attached on a first one ofopposite surfaces thereof; cutting the optical element strip at givenintervals in a feed direction of the optical element strip with thereleasable liner being intact; peeling off the releasable liner from aforwardmost one of the optical elements in a sequential manner; andlaminating the forwardmost optical element to the sheet-shaped bodythrough the exposed first surface thereof.

According to the above method of the present invention, the opticalelement strip is cut while leaving the releasable liner intact, so thatthe optical elements serially arrayed on the strip-shaped releasableliner and each formed in a desired sheet shape can be fed to alaminating position where the forwardmost one of the optical elements islaminated to the sheet-shaped body. In this way, the laminating processcan be performed automatically and continuously, by peeling thereleasable liner from a forwardmost one of optical elements in asequential manner at the laminating station. Thus, there is no need toprepare an optical element punched out in a sheet shape conforming tothat of a sheet-shaped body as a counterpart for forming an intendedlaminate structure, and thereby no need to transport an optical elementto an independent laminating station. This makes it possible todrastically reduce a total time for a laminating process.

In accordance with a second aspect, in addition to the first aspect, theoptical element strip further has a protective film strip conformablyattached to the other, second surface thereof, wherein the step ofcutting includes cutting a lamination of the protective film strip andthe optical element strip at the given intervals in the feed directionwith the releasable liner being left intact.

According to this feature, the lamination of the protective film stripand the optical element strip is cut while leaving the releasable linerintact, so that cut sheets of laminations are formed in the state thatthey are serially arrayed on the strip-shaped releasable liner wherebythe cut sheets can be fed to the laminating station. In this way, thesucceeding laminating process can be performed automatically andcontinuously, by peeling the releasable liner from a forwardmost one ofthe cut sheets of laminations in a sequential manner at the laminatingposition. Thus, there is no need to prepare an optical element punchedout in a sheet shape conforming to that of a sheet-shaped body as acounterpart for forming an intended laminate structure, and thereby noneed to transport an optical element to an independent laminatingstation. This makes it possible to drastically reduce a total time for alaminating process.

In addition, the protective film is kept attached on the optical elementuntil the optical element is transported to a final station, to preventdust from directly adhering to the surface of the optical element. Thismakes it possible to suppress occurrence of a defect due to dust beingadhered the surface of the optical element and to maintain quality at ahigh level.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, in addition tothe features described above, the cutting of the optical element stripor the lamination of the protective film strip and the optical elementstrip is performed by means of a laser beam.

According to this feature, the cutting process is free of which mayotherwise be formed when cutting operation is carried out by using othertype of cutting means, such as a cutting edge. In other words, it ispossible to prevent any debris being adhered to the optical elementstrip. In addition, the optical element strip is not subjected to apressing force which is generally applied thereto when the cuttingoperation is made using a cutter blade, so that it is possible toprevent any crack produced in the edge of the optical element cut by thecutting edge so as to eliminate a need for a post-process (finishing)for the cut edge.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, thecutting of the optical element strip or the lamination of the protectivefilm strip and the optical element strip by means of a laser beam isperformed in such a manner that the optical axis of the laser beam isinclined with respect to a vertical direction from the forward sidetoward the backward side of a lateral scanning line of the laser beam asseen in the direction of movement of the strip.

When the laser beam is emitted for cutting operation to the opticalelement strip or the lamination of the protective film strip and theoptical element strip, the optical element strip or the lamination isvaporized through thermal decomposition to cause a phenomenon similar toexplosion. During this phenomenon, smoke is generated and spread out.For example, if a laser beam is emitted in a direction perpendicular tothe surface of the optical element strip or the protective film strip,smoke is spread along the surface of the optical element strip or theprotective film strip, to contaminate the surface.

Through extensive researches for suppressing the contamination of theoptical element strip or the protective film strip due to the smoke, theinventors have carried out repeated experiments and arrived at thefollowing findings.

If such operation of cutting the optical element strip is performedunder a condition that an optical axis of a laser beam is set to beperpendicular to a cutting position of the optical element strip, orunder a condition that an optical axis of a laser beam is inclined toextend from the backward side toward the forward side of the lateralscanning line of the laser beam, it is unable to suppress thecontamination of the optical element strip, even under either of theabove conditions. In contrast, when the cutting operation is performedwith the optical axis of the laser beam inclined to extend from theforward side toward the backward side of the scanning line of the laserbeam, as set forth above, the contamination of the optical element stripdue to the smoke can be suppressed. Specifically, smoke generated duringthe cutting under the condition described above flows from the cuttingposition obliquely upwardly and backwardly without flowing along thesurface of the optical element strip or the protective film strip whilecovering the surface.

More specifically, an angle between the optical axis of the laser beamand a reference axis perpendicular to the cutting position of theoptical element strip should preferably be in the range of 10 to 45degrees. The above described advantage of the method can be effectivelyobtained by setting the angle to fall within this range.

In accordance with a still further aspect of the present invention, thestep of cutting includes, in the course of cutting the optical elementstrip or the lamination of the protective film strip and the opticalelement strip, a further step of blowing warm air toward a cuttingposition, simultaneously collecting and removing smoke generated duringthe cutting.

According to this feature, because of the warm air blown toward thecutting position, there will be an increase in temperature in thecutting position and its surrounding region. At the same time, gas orsmoke generated during the cutting of the optical element strip or thelamination of the protective film strip and the optical element strip bymeans of the laser beam is carried with the stream of the warm air, andcollected and removed. As a result, it becomes possible to preventforeign debris from adhering to the cutting position and the surroundingregion. This is based on the inventers' finding that foreign debris tobe adhered to the cutting position and the surrounding region are formedin a course of cooling the gas (smoke) generated during the cutting, thefinding having been obtained through various researches on factorscausing contamination by foreign debris.

Specifically, the inventors have obtained knowledge that, while theoptical element strip or the lamination of the protective film strip andthe optical element strip is vaporized in the form of smoke by heatduring irradiation of the laser beam, the smoke is cooled and liquidizedunder the influence of a surrounding member, for example, if a memberfor holding the sheet-shaped body during the cutting is made of amaterial, such as a metal, which is kept at a relatively low temperatureeven during the cutting at normal temperature, and the liquidizedsubstances will be deposited again on the cutting position and thesurrounding region to cause an adverse effect on quality.

According to still further aspect of the present invention, in additionto the features described above, the method further comprises, beforethe step of cutting, a step of inspecting the presence or absence of adefect in the optical element strip, wherein the releasable liner isdetached from a portion of the optical element strip shortly before theinspection step is carried out, and the detached releasable liner or anew releasable liner is adhered to the portion of the optical elementstrip shortly after the portion of the optical element strip hassubjected to the inspection step.

According to this feature, the defect in the optical element strip isdetected in the inspecting step in advance of the cutting step. Thismakes it possible to adjustably prevent a defective portion of theoptical element strip from being laminated to the sheet-shaped body. Forexample, in cases where an optical system is used in the inspectingstep, the defect in the optical element strip is likely to be unable tobe accurately detected, due to the influences of variation inorientation angle of the releasable liner, and reflected light from thereleasable liner, in addition to the influence of variation inorientation angle of the optical element strip itself. For this reason,the releasable liner is detached shortly before the inspecting step.This makes it possible to eliminate an adverse effect of the releasableliner on the inspection so as to obtain a highly-accurate inspectionresult.

In accordance with still further aspect of the present invention, thestep of cutting includes, when the defect in the optical element stripis detected through the step of inspecting, cutting a portion of theoptical element strip including the defect, by a minimum distance, andthe step of laminating includes peeling off the releasable liner fromthe defective optical element, and laminating the defective opticalelement to a strip-shaped collecting member, whereafter the collectingmember is wound up to collect the defective optical element.

According to this feature, a region of the optical element stripincluding the defect can be cut by a minimum distance and collected.This makes it possible to effectively utilize the strip-shaped opticalelement.

The optical element in the present invention may be one selected fromthe group consisting of a film, a polarizing film for a liquid-crystalpanel, and a reflecting polarizer film for a liquid-crystal panel. Thesheet-shaped body in the present invention may be a liquid-crystalpanel. Even if the optical element is a thin and flexible member, it canbe laminated to the sheet-shaped body while preventing formation ofcrimp and trapping of air, because it is handled in a strip shape undera tension.

Still further, the present invention provides a system for laminating anoptical element to a sheet-shaped body, which comprises: optical elementfeeding means operable to feed an optical element strip which has areleasable liner conformably adhered to a first one of opposite surfacesthereof; cutting means operable to cut the optical element strip atgiven intervals in a feed direction of the optical element strip withthe releasable liner being left intact; peeling means operable toreverse the feed direction of the releasable liner along a knife-edgedmember to peel off the releasable liner from a forwardmost one of theoptical elements in a sequential manner; transporting means operable toconvey the sheet-shaped body to a position for laminating thereto theforwardmost one of the optical elements in a state after the releasableliner is peeled off therefrom; and laminating means operable to laminatethe forwardmost optical element to the sheet-shaped body conveyed by thetransporting means, through the exposed first surface thereof.

In the system of the present invention, the optical element strip fed bythe optical element feeding means is cut into the array of opticalelements with the releasable liner being left intact. This makes itpossible to successively feed the optical elements each formed in asheet shape conforming to that of the sheet-shaped body, to a laminatingstation through the medium of the strip-shaped releasable liner, andautomatically laminate a forwardmost one of the optical elements to thesheet-shaped body in a sequential manner. Thus, this system candesirably implement the above method.

The optical element strip may further have a protective film stripconformably adhered to the other, second, surface thereof. In this case,the cutting means may be designed to cut a lamination of the protectivefilm strip and the optical element strip at the given intervals in thefeed direction to form an array of laminations each consisting of aprotective film and the optical element, with the releasable liner beingleft intact.

Preferably, the cutting means is a laser unit. According to thisfeature, the cutting means based on the laser unit is free of risk offormation of debris which may otherwise be formed when the opticalelement strip is cut by means of other cutting means, such as a cutterblade or cutting edge. Thus, it is possible to prevent debris from beingadhered to the optical element strip. In addition, the optical elementstrip becomes free from a pressing force which is otherwise appliedthereto during an operation of cutting the optical element strip bypressing a cutter blade onto the strip. This makes it possible toprevent occurrence of crack in the edge of the optical element cut bythe cutting means so as to eliminate a need for a post-process(finishing) for the cut edge.

Preferably, the laser unit is installed in an inclined posture to emit alaser beam in such a manner that an optical axis of the laser beam isinclined to extend from the forward side with respect to the scanningline of the laser beam toward the cutting position. More preferably, anangle between the optical axis of the laser beam and a reference axisperpendicular to the cutting position is in the range of 10 to 45degrees. According to this feature, the previously described method canbe desirably implemented.

According to a still further aspect, the system further includesair-blowing means operable, in the course of cutting the optical elementstrip or the lamination of the protective film strip and the opticalelement strip by the laser unit, to blow warm air toward the cuttingposition, and smoke-collecting/removing means operable to collect andremove smoke generated at the cutting position during the cutting.

According to this feature, warm air is blown from the air-blowing meanstoward the cutting position which is being cut by the laser unit, toprevent cooling of smoke generated from the cutting position. Inaddition, the generated gas or smoke is collected and removed by thesmoke-collecting/removing means, to prevent liquidized substances fromdepositing on the surface of the optical element strip or the protectivefilm. Thus, the previously described method can be desirablyimplemented.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, the system mayfurther comprise: detaching means operable to detach the releasableliner from a portion of the optical element strip before the opticalelement strip is cut by the cutting means; inspection means operable toinspect the presence or absence of a defect in the portion of theoptical element strip shortly after the releasable liner is detachedfrom the portion of the optical element strip; and attaching meansoperable to attach the detached releasable liner or a new releasableliner onto the exposed first surface of the portion of the opticalelement strip shortly after the portion of the optical element strip hasbeen inspected by the inspection means.

According to this feature, the releasable liner is detached from aportion of the optical element strip shortly before the portion of theoptical element strip is inspected by the inspection means, so that theoptical element strip can be inspected in a state wherein any adverseeffect, such as variation in orientation angle and reflected light ofthe releasable liner, on the result of the inspection can be eliminated.In addition, the detached releasable liner or a new releasable liner isattached to the portion of the optical element strip shortly after theportion of the optical element strip has been inspected, so that thearray of sheet-shaped optical elements cut by the cutting means can besuccessively fed to the laminating means through the medium of thestrip-shaped releasable liner. Thus, the aforementioned method can bedesirably implemented.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, thelaminating means may include: a laminating roller adapted to press apolarizing plate in the state after the releasable liner is peeled offtherefrom; a first guide roller disposed in opposed relation to thelaminating roller, and adapted to guide the sheet-shaped body conveyedby the transporting means and to be moved between a guide position forguiding the sheet-shaped body and a retracted position located below theguide position; and a second guide roller wound by a strip-shapedreleasable member, and adapted to be moved to the guide position whenthe first guide roller is moved to the retracted position, wherein thesystem includes control means operable, when the defect in the portionof the optical element strip is detected by the inspection means, tocontrol the cutting means to partially cut the optical element strip bya minimum distance including the defect, and, when the defective opticalelement is fed to the laminating means, to control the transportingmeans to stop transporting the sheet-shaped body, and control thelaminating means to move the first guide roller to the retractedposition and move the second guide roller to the guide position, so asto allow the defective optical element to be laminated to the releasablemember on the second guide roller according to the laminating roller,and collected by rolling up the releasable member.

According to this feature, a region of the polarizing plate includingthe defect can be cut by a minimum distance and collected. This makes itpossible to effectively utilize the strip-shaped polarizing plate.

EFFECT OF THE INVENTION

According to the optical element laminating method and the system forcarrying out the method in accordance with the present invention, it ispossible to perform the process including the step of cutting theoptical element strip and laminating thus obtained optical element tothe sheet-shaped body automatically in an efficient and accurate manner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view generally showing an optical elementlaminating system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view generally showing a panel conveyanceapparatus.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view showing a cutting mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view showing a peeling mechanism and alaminating mechanism.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a polarizing film laminatingoperation.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a polarizing film laminatingoperation.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an operation of determining a cuttingposition of a polarizing film strip.

FIG. 8 is a schematic side view showing one example of a modifiedinspection section.

FIG. 9 is a graph showing an inspection result obtained by the modifiedinspection section.

FIG. 10 is a schematic side view showing one example of a modifiedlaminating mechanism.

FIG. 11 is a schematic side view showing an operation of collecting adefective optical element in the modified laminating mechanism.

FIG. 12 is a schematic side view showing the operation of collecting adefective optical element in the modified laminating mechanism.

FIG. 13 is a schematic side view showing the operation of collecting adefective optical element in the modified laminating mechanism.

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary schematic side view showing one example of amodified cutting mechanism.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory top plan view showing a state of cutting usinga laser beam in the modified cutting mechanism.

FIG. 16 is a side view showing a state of cutting using a laser beam ina cutting mechanism as a comparative example.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The present invention will now be described with reference to anembodiment taking reference to the drawings. It should be noted that inthe context of the present invention, the term “optical element” is notintended to be limited to a specific type, but it is intended toencompass any functional film of a flexible strip form, such as apolarizing film, a retardation film or a reflecting polarizer film, andan embodiment of the present invention will be described by way ofexample where a polarizing film is used as the optical element. In thepresent invention, the term “sheet-shaped body” is not intended to belimited to a specific type, but it is intended to encompass aliquid-crystal panel, a polarizing plate and any other sheet-shapedfunctional film, such as a polarizing film, a retardation film or areflecting polarizer film. The following embodiment of the presentinvention will be described by taking as an example the case where aliquid-crystal panel is used as the sheet-shaped body.

In the context of the present invention, each of the terms “releasableliner” and “protective film” is intended to mean a material having afunction of covering for protection an optical element to prevent damageof its surface. As used herein, the releasable liner is of such a typecapable of being peeled and removed from an interface with an adhesiveattached to an optical element, whereas the protective film is of such atype that is capable of being peeled and removed from an optical elementstrip together with an adhesive.

FIG. 1 schematically shows a configuration of an optical elementlaminating system implementing the optical element laminating methodaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the system according to this embodiment isdesigned to feed a continuous strip of a polarizing film F to alaminating mechanism 5 for laminating a forwardmost one of thepolarizing film sheets F to a liquid-crystal panel W in a sequentialmanner, and convey the liquid-crystal panel W to the laminatingmechanism 5 via a first path which is provided separately from a secondpath through which the strip of the polarizing film F is passed.

As shown in FIG. 1, the feed path for the polarizing film F is providedwith a film feeding section 1 from which the polarizing film F isunwound and delivered, the polarizing film strip F comprising aprotective film P conformably adhered or attached to a first one of theopposite surfaces thereof and a releasable liner S conformably adheredor attached to the other, second surface thereof, an inspection unit 2for carrying out an appearance inspection for the polarizing film F, acutting mechanism 3 for cutting the polarizing film F to a given lengthin a feed direction to form an array of polarizing film sheets F, and apeeling mechanism 4 for peeling off the releasable liner S from aforwardmost one of the polarizing film sheets F while guiding a leadingedge of the forwardmost polarizing film sheet F to the laminatingmechanism 5, wherein the peeling mechanism 4 is located in a terminalend of the feed path for the polarizing film F. Further, areleasable-liner collecting section 6 is associated with the peelingmechanism 4 to wind up and collect the peeled releasable liner S. Aplurality of guide rollers g and two dancer rollers 7 a, 7 b areappropriately interposed between respective ones of the aboveunit/sections/mechanisms. In regard to the correspondence relationshipwith elements of the appended claims, the film feeding section 1, theinspection unit 2, the cutting mechanism 3, the peeling mechanism 4, andthe laminating mechanism 5, correspond to, but are not limited to, theoptical element feeding means, the inspection means, the cutting means,the peeling means, and the laminating means, respectively.

The film feeding section 1 is loaded with a roll a continuous strip of apolarization film F prepared by longitudinally slitting a wider strip ofpolarization film F derived from a stock roll 8 into strips of a givenwidth, the slit strip being wound into a roll.

The inspection unit 2 is designed to detect defects in the polarizingfilm F of the strip and foreign substances adhered to the surface of orexisting in the polarizing film F, and in this embodiment, a CCD cameraas an optical system is employed as the inspection unit 2. The CCDcamera is disposed directly above the polarizing film strip F to image aportion of the polarizing film strip F passing therebeneath,continuously or intermittently. A result of the imaging is converted toa digital signal, and the digital signal is sent to a control unit 9which will be described in detail later. Then, a processing sectionbuilt in the control unit 9 is operable to perform a matching processingusing a reference image acquired from a reference sample identical to aninspection target to detect crack/chip of the polarizing film strip Fand attachment of foreign debris.

The cutting mechanism 3 comprises a holding table 10 for holding aportion of the polarizing film strip F under a suction pressure appliedfrom a back surface thereof, and a laser unit 11 disposed directly abovethe portion of the polarizing film strip F. The laser unit 11 is adaptedto be moved horizontally so as to scan a laser beam in a widthwisedirection of the polarizing film strip F to cut the lamination of thepolarizing film strip F and the protective film strip P at a given pitchin the feed direction, with the lowermost releasable liner being leftintact (this cutting will hereinafter be referred as “half-cutting” whenappropriate). As shown in FIG. 3, the laser unit 11 is integrallyassembled with an air nozzle 12 for blowing warm air toward a cuttingposition of the polarizing film strip F, and a smoke collection duct 13for collecting gas (smoke) generated from the cutting position andcarried with a stream of the warm air, in such a manner that the airnozzle 12 and the smoke collection duct 13 are disposed on respectiveones of opposite sides of the laser unit 11 in the widthwise directionof the polarizing film strip F and in opposed relation to each other. Inregard to a correspondence relationship with elements of the appendedclaims, the air nozzle 12 and the smoke collection duct 13 correspondto, but are not limited to, the air-blowing means and thesmoke-collecting/removing means, respectively.

The peeling mechanism 4 is provided at an end with a sharp-pointedknife-edged portion 14 which is adapted to provide a path of an acuteangle for the releasable liner S by having the releasable liner S passedaround the knife-edged portion 14, so as to peel the releasable liner Sfrom the forwardmost one of the sheets of the polarizing film F whileguiding the forwardmost polarizing film sheet F toward the laminatingmechanism 5. Subsequently, the peeled apart releasable liner S is takenup by a collection bobbin 14 in the releasable-liner collecting section6.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a plurality of liquid-crystal panels W to beconveyed via the second path are prepared by cutting a wide substrateinto sheet-shaped pieces each having a given size, and loaded and storedas a stack in a liquid-crystal panel supply magazine 16 provided in aliquid-crystal panel supply section 17. Further, a dummy-substratesupply section 20 is provided in opposed relation to the liquid-crystalpanel supply magazine 16 across a panel transport apparatus 18 forreceiving and transporting the liquid-crystal panels W, wherein aplurality of dummy substrates DW are loaded and stored as a stack in adummy-substrate supply magazine 19 provided in the dummy-substratesupply section 20.

Two vacuum suction-type pickup units 21 are disposed above theliquid-crystal panel supply section 17 and the dummy-substrate supplysection 20, respectively, and each of the pickup units 21 is movable ina vertical direction and capable of reciprocating movement in ahorizontal direction. Each of the pickup units 21 is adapted to holdunder suction pressure the liquid-crystal panels W (dummy substrates DW)stored as a stack in the supply magazine 16 (19), one-by-one from theuppermost one.

The pickup unit 21 in the liquid-crystal panel supply section 17 isadapted to be moved upwardly and then forwardly while holding undersuction pressure the liquid-crystal panel W, so as to transfer theliquid-crystal panel W to the panel transport apparatus 18 at a givenposition between the laminating mechanism 5 and the liquid-crystal panelsupply section 17. The liquid-crystal panel supply magazine 16 isadapted to be controllably moved upwardly in conjunction with theunloading of the liquid-crystal panel W.

Similarly, the pickup unit 21 in the dummy-substrate supply section 20is adapted to be moved upwardly and then forwardly while holding undersuction pressure the dummy substrate DW, so as to transfer the dummysubstrate DW to the panel transport apparatus 18 at a given positionbetween the laminating mechanism 5 and the dummy-substrate supplysection 20. The dummy-substrate supply magazine 20 is adapted to becontrollably moved upwardly in conjunction with the unloading of thedummy substrate DW.

The panel transport apparatus 18 is designed to provide an upstreamtransport path for transporting the liquid-crystal panels W or the dummysubstrates DW to the laminating mechanism 5, and a downstream transportpath located downstream of the laminating mechanism 5 to convey theliquid-crystal panels W and the dummy substrate DW each subjected to alaminating operation. The upstream transport path is disposed beneathand in overlapped relation with a part of the feed path for feeding thepolarizing films F half-cut by the cutting mechanism 3 to the laminatingmechanism 5. The downstream transport path is divided into two sub-pathsto separate the liquid-crystal panel W and the dummy substrate DW fromeach other. The panel transport apparatus 18 is formed as a rollerconveyer in both the upstream and downstream transport paths.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, there is provided a feed plate 22 justupstream side of the laminating mechanism 5. The feed device 22 isadapted to draw the liquid crystal panel W under a suction pressure andhold it with an appropriate suction force when a liquid crystal panel Wis placed on its upper surface, by means of a sucking mechanism 23through a rectangular opening formed in a central region of the feedplate 22, the sucking mechanism 23 being slidable forwardly andbackwardly in a transport direction of the liquid-crystal panels W.Then, a cylinder 24 connected to a lower portion of the suckingmechanism 23 is activated to slidingly move the sucking mechanism 23 bya given stroke according to an extending or retracting movement thereof,so that the liquid-crystal panel W (dummy substrate DW) is fed forwardlyalong the upper surface of the support plate 22.

Based on the sliding forward movement of the sucking mechanism 23 by thegiven stroke, the liquid-crystal panel W can be moved forwardly beyond aforward edge of the knife-edged portion 14 and fed to a laminatingposition. The support plate 22 is fixedly installed such that its uppersurface is located at a height position higher than an uppermost portionof an after-mentioned first guide roller 25 of the laminating mechanism5 by an appropriate distance. The stroke of the cylinder 24 forslidingly moving the sucking mechanism 23 to feed the liquid-crystalpanel W (dummy substrate DW) to the laminating position, and the heightposition of the upper surface of the feed plate 22, are appropriatelydetermined depending on a size (including a thickness dimension), shapeand material of the liquid-crystal panel W.

The laminating mechanism 5 comprises a guide roller 25 and a laminatingroller 26. The guide roller 25 is comprised of a motor-driven rubberroller, and the laminating roller 26 comprised of a motor-driven metalroller is disposed immediately above the guide roller 25 for movement inthe upward and downward directions, whereby, when the feed plate 22 isadvanced to feed the liquid-crystal panel W to the laminating position,the laminating roller 26 is moved upwardly to a position higher than theupper surface of the feed plate 22 so as to provide an increasedinter-roller gap. It should be understood that each of the guide roller25 and the laminating roller 26 may be comprised of a rubber roller ormay be comprised of a metal roller.

The control unit 9 is provided as a means to generally control a drivemechanism of the system according to this embodiment. Details of thecontrol will be specifically described later in connection with adescription about an operation of the system according to thisembodiment. The structure and function of each of the major componentsof the optical element laminating system according to this embodimentare just like those described above. The following description will bemade about a process of laminating each of the polarizing films F to arespective one of the liquid-crystal panels W, using the above system,with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7.

As shown in FIG. 1, the polarizing film F in the form of a continuousstrip is fed out from the stock roll 8 loaded in the film feedingsection 1, and fed to the inspection section 2 by being guided with aguide roll g. In the inspection section 2, an image of the polarizingfilm strip F is taken and digitized image data is sent to the controlunit 9.

The control unit 9 functions to check the presence or absence of adefect or adhered foreign substance in the polarizing film strip F,based on a matching processing using the received image data andpre-acquired reference image data. After completion of the inspection,the polarizing film strip F is fed to the cutting mechanism 3 via thedancing roller 7 a.

In the cutting mechanism 3, the delivered polarizing film F is held bythe holding table 10 under a suction applied from a back surface of thetable 10. During this operation, the control unit 9 controls theupstream dancer roller 7 a to adequately maintain an operation offeeding the polarizing film strip F from the film feeding section 1.When the polarizing film strip F is thus held, the laser unit 11 ismoved horizontally in a widthwise direction of the polarizing film stripF to cut the lamination of the polarizing film strip F and theprotective film strip P, with the lowermost releasable liner being leftintact. In conjunction with this half-cut operation, warm air is blownfrom the air nozzle 12 toward the cutting position of the lamination ofthe polarizing film strip F and the protective film strip P, and gasgenerated from the cutting position is collected and removed through thesmoke collection duct 13.

After completion of the half-cut operation, the holding effort by theholding table 10 is temporarily released to allow the polarizing filmstrip F to be fed in the feed direction by a given distance, and thenthe polarizing film strip F is held again under a suction by the holdingtable 10. Then, the laser unit 11 performs a half-cutting operation forforming a trailing edge of the one polarizing film sheet F. At thisinstance, the polarizing film F is cut to a size equal to or less thanthat of the liquid-crystal panel W to which the polarizing film F is tobe laminated, the cut sheet of the polarizing film being held adhered tothe strip-shaped releasable liner S and feed to the peeling mechanism 4by being guided by the guide rollers g and according to a movement ofthe dancer roller 7 b.

Synchronized with the transportation of the polarizing film F to thelaminating mechanism 5, the pickup unit 21 picks up an uppermost one ofthe liquid-crystal panels W from the liquid-crystal panel supplymagazine 16 and transfers it to the panel transport apparatus 18. Theliquid-crystal panel W is then conveyed by means of a conveyor to thelaminating mechanism 5.

As shown in FIG. 4, just before the laminating mechanism 5, theliquid-crystal panel W is transferred to the feed plate 22, and heldunder a suction pressure applied by the sucking mechanism 23 from theback surface thereof approximately at the same timing of the transferoperation. As shown in FIG. 5, the control unit 9 controls the operationof the cylinder 24 to feed the liquid-crystal panel W from the feedplate 22 to the guide roller 25, in a manner synchronized with theoperation of feeding the leading edge of the forwardmost polarizing filmF toward the gap between the laminating roller 26 in the retractedposition and the first guide roller 25 in a fixed position, whilereversing the feed direction of the releasable liner S along theknife-edged portion 14 of the peeling mechanism 4 to peel the releasableliner S off the forwardmost polarizing film sheet F. In this instance,the laminating roller 26 is moved upwardly to a position apart from theguide roller 25 by a given distance to increase the inter-roll gap, asmentioned above.

When the leading edge of the forwardmost polarizing film F reachesapproximately a line L passing through respective centers of the tworollers 25, 26 without contact with the guide roller 25, and when theleading edge of the liquid-crystal panel W reaches the line L, thecontrol unit 9 controls the laminating mechanism 5 to move thelaminating roller 26 toward the guide roller 25 by a given distance soas to press the forward portion of the forwardmost polarizing film Fagainst the liquid-crystal panel W to allow the forwardmost polarizingfilm F to be laminated to the liquid-crystal panel W, as shown in FIG.6. Generally, during this operation, the forwardmost polarizing film Fis likely to be bendingly deformed in a chevron shape, due to a residualstress accumulated during the attachment of the releasable liner S andthe protective film strip P and a peeling stress caused during thepeeling of the releasable liner S. However, the forwardmost polarizingfilm F is correctively returned to its original flat shape while beingpressed by the laminating roller 26, and pressed against and in parallelrelation to an upper surface of the liquid-crystal panel W.

Then, along with the transport of the liquid-crystal panels W and themovement of the releasable liner S according to the wind-up operation,the polarizing film F detached from the strip-shaped releasable liner Swill be continuously fed between the first guide roller 25 and thelaminating roller 26 and laminated to the upper surface of theliquid-crystal panel W.

Then, when the trailing edge of the detached polarizing film F haspassed through the nip of the two rollers and arrived at a predeterminedposition, the fact is detected, for example, by a rotary encoder or anoptical sensor for detecting a predetermined rotational amount of thelaminating roller 26 and/or the guide roller 25, the laminating roller26 is moved away from the guide roller 25. The control unit 9 alsocontrols the dancer roller 7 b in synchronization with the laminatingroller 26, the wind-up operation of the releasable-liner collectingsection 6, and an activation and deactivation of the laminatingmechanism 5, to allow the above series of operations to be adequatelyperformed.

The liquid-crystal panel W with the polarizing film F laminated theretois conveyed to a next station via the downstream transport path of thepanel transport apparatus 18. In this manner, one cycle of laminatingoperation for the polarizing film F having no defect is completed.

Further, in cases where a defect in the polarizing film strip F and/oradhered foreign substance is detected by the inspection unit 2 duringthe above laminating operation, the following process will be performed.

When a defect, such as deficit portion is found in the polarizing filmstrip F by the inspection unit 2, a processing section built in thecontrol unit 9 calculates a position coordinate of the defect based onimage data acquired by the inspection unit 2, and controls to allow adefective polarizing film F including this defect to be laminated to thedummy substrate DW instead of being laminated to the liquid-crystalpanel W, based on the calculated position coordinate. Specifically, adistance between a position of the polarizing film strip F at a timingof the detection of a defect, such as crack/chip, and the laminatingmechanism 5, is known. Thus, the control unit 9 activates an encoder tocount a rotational amount of a drive mechanism for feeding thepolarizing film strip (polarizing films) E Further, the control unit 9calculates a timing when the defective polarizing film F reaches thelaminating mechanism 5, and then operates to allow the dummy substrateDW to be transferred from the dummy-substrate supply section 20 to thepanel transport apparatus 18, based on the calculation result. Then,when each of the defective polarizing film F and the dummy substrate DWreaches the laminating mechanism 5, a laminating operation is performedin the same manner as that for the non-defective polarizing film F, andthe dummy substrate DW with the defective polarizing film F laminatedthereto is conveyed via the downstream path in the panel transportapparatus 18. In this case, the dummy substrate DW with the defectivepolarizing film F laminated thereto is conveyed in a direction differentfrom that for the non-defective polarizing film F at a branched positionof the downstream path, and collected. In this manner, one cycle of alaminating operation using the dummy substrate DW is completed.

With a view to efficiently cutting and removing a portion of thepolarizing film strip F having a defect, the following process may beperformed. Given that the polarizing film sheet F to be laminated to theliquid-crystal panel W has a width Y of 476 mm and a length H of 836 mm,and if it is determined to be unable to half-cut the polarizing filmstrip F with this size, the position coordinate of the defect iscalculated based on image data acquired by the inspection unit 2, and atrailing cut position is determined for defining a trailing edge of adefective polarizing film sheet to be formed at a position apart fromthe calculated position of the defect by a given length (in thisexample, 100 mm). Then, an inspection is conducted to determine if thereis no defect within the distance (836 mm) from the trailing cut positionfor ensuring a non-defective sheet size of the polarizing film F.

Specifically, after determining a margin from the position X1 of thedefect to the cut position X2 as shown by A in FIG. 7, a furtherhalf-cut position X3 is determined if it is possible to ensure a lengthof a non-defective sheet of the polarizing film F.

In the case where, as shown in the area B in FIG. 7, a plurality ofdefects continuously exist at positions X4, X5, X6, and the length ofthe area covering these defects exceeds the length of the dummysubstrate DW having the same size as the liquid crystal panel W, thearea between the position X3 to the next cut position X7 is divided intoa plurality of areas so that each divided area is within the size of thedummy substrate DW.

As mentioned above, in the course of feeding wherein the polarizing filmstrip F having the releasable liner S conformably adhered to the firstsurface thereof and the protective film strip P conformably adhered tothe second surface thereof to the laminating mechanism 5, the laminationof the protective film strip P and the polarizing film strip F ishalf-cut by the laser unit 11 while leaving the releasable liner Sintact, so that it is made possible to deliver sequentially arrangedsheets of polarizing films F each having a size equal to or less thanthat of the liquid-crystal panel W, on the strip-shaped releasable linerS. Then, just before the laminating mechanism 5, the releasable liner Sis peeled off from a forwardmost one of the polarizing film sheet F byreversing the feed direction of the releasable liner S along theknife-edged portion 14 of the peeling mechanism 4, while allowing theforwardmost polarizing film F to be fed to the laminating mechanism 5and laminated to the liquid-crystal panel W.

Thus, the array of polarizing film sheets F each having approximatelythe same shape of that of the liquid-crystal panel can be fedsubstantially in the form of a strip and automatically laminated torespective ones of the liquid-crystal panels. Further, during thisoperation, the opposite surfaces of the polarizing film sheets F arecovered respectively by the releasable liner S and the protective filmstrip, until the polarizing film sheet F is laminated to thecorresponding liquid-crystal panel W, so that it is made possible toprevent contamination, such as dust, from attaching to the top andbottom surfaces of the polarizing film strip F. In addition, even afterthe laminating operation, the protective film P is still adhered to thesurface of the polarizing film F to prevent dust from being adheredthereto.

It should further be noted that, during the operation of cutting thelamination of the polarizing film strip F and the protective film stripP by the laser unit 11, warm air is blown against a cutting position ofthe lamination, and gas generated during the cutting operation iscollected and removed through the smoke collection duct 13, so that itis possible to prevent substances formed through cooling andliquidization of the gas from adhering to the cutting position and itssurrounding region. Thus, it is possible to provide a liquid-crystalpanel W with a non-defective polarizing film free of foreign substance.

The mechanism for blowing warm air against a cutting position during thehalf-cutting of the polarizing film strip F by the laser unit 11 andcollecting/removing generated gas in the system according to the aboveembodiment will be more specifically described based on the followingexamples.

As shown in Table 1, in Example 1, warm air at 60° C. was blown from theair nozzle 12 against the cutting position of the polarizing film stripF while collecting and removing generated gas through the smokecollection dust 13.

In Example 2, the half-cutting operation based on the laser unit 11 wasperformed at an ambient air temperature without air-blowing and withoutcollection/removal of generated gas. In Example 3, the half-cuttingoperation based on the laser unit 11 was performed at an ambient airtemperature with only collecting and removing generated gas. In Example4, under a condition that a room temperature is maintained at constantvalue of 25° C., warm air at the same temperature as the roomtemperature, i.e., 25° C., was blown against the cutting position whilecollecting and removing generated gas.

TABLE 1 Width of Smoke Air- attachment of collection blowing Temperatureforeign substance EXAMPLE 1 ∘*¹ ∘ 60° C. Non EXAMPLE 2 x*² x normal 9 mmtemperature EXAMPLE 3 ∘ x normal 8 mm temperature EXAMPLE 4 ∘ ∘ 25° C. 2mm *¹with the device *²without the device

As a result, as shown in Table 1, in Example 1, adherence of foreignsubstances was not observed in the cutting position and its surroundingregion. In contrast, in Examples 2 to 4, adherence of foreign substancesin a strip pattern with a certain width was observed around and on bothsides of the cutting position. The widths of the adhered foreignsubstances in Example 2, Example 3 and Example 4 were 9 mm, 8 mm and 2mm, respectively. That is, in either case devoid of blowing of warm air,adherence of foreign substances was observed on both sides of thecutting position.

From the above result, it was verified that the blowing of warm airtoward the cutting position during the operation of cutting thepolarizing film strip by the laser unit 11 can warm the cutting positionand the surrounding region to prevent generated gas from being cooledand liquidized.

The above embodiment of the present invention may be modified asfollows.

(1) The inspection unit 2 in the above embodiment may be designed suchthat a light source and a light-receiving element or a line sensor aredisposed on respective ones of upper and lower sides of the polarizingfilm strip and in opposed relation to each other, to detect crack/chipof the polarizing film strip and attachment of foreign substancethereon, based on a change in intensity of light transmitted through thepolarizing film strip being passing therebetween.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, there may be provided a mechanism designedto detach the releasable liner S from a portion of the polarizing filmstrip by a detaching roller 29 just before the portion of the polarizingfilm strip is fed to the inspection section, and attach a new releasableliner S2 supplied from a roll 30 of the releasable liner S2, to the backside of the polarizing film strip F by means of an attaching roller 31.

According to the construction, it is possible in using the inspectionunit 2 having an optical system described above to detect defects suchas loss of specific optical feature with a high accuracy, by eliminatingany adverse effect caused by for example variations in orientation ofthe releasable liner S and influence of reflected light. It shouldfurther be noted that the same releasable liner S detached from thepolarizing film F may again be attached to the polarizing film F afterthe polarizing film strip F has been inspected.

Description will now be made with reference to the case where theinspection has been conducted after detaching the releasable liner Sfrom the polarizing film F using the modified apparatus shown in FIG. 8and the case where the inspection has been conducted with the releasableliner S attached to the polarizing film F, as specific examples.

In these examples, the inspection was performed under the followingconditions. A laminate film has been prepared using films ofT-VEGQ1724DU ARC15T-AC manufactured by Nitto Denko Corporation for theprotective film strip P, the polarizing film strip F and the releasableliner S. This laminate film had a width of 1500 mm A line sensor camerahaving a resolution power of 30 μm, and a halogen lamp for illuminatinga portion of the polarizing film strip F to be inspected, were used inthe inspection unit 2. The feed speed of the polarizing film strip F wasset at 50 m/min.

Based on the above inspection conditions, inspection has been conductedto detect respectively adherence of foreign substances on the surface ofthe polarizing film strip F or other film, and a knick which is a defectof a particular shape causing an optical distortion and having adent-like configuration created by foreign debris being caught in or onthe film during manufacturing process. For each of the polarizing filmstrip F from which the releasable liner strip S has been removed, andthe polarizing film strip F with the releasable liner strip S attachedthereto, the inspection has been conducted to detect a defect having asize of 100 nm or greater in a unit area of 560 mm×600 mm

In the case of the polarizing film strip F from which the releasableliner strip S has been removed, 10000 locations in the unit area withinthe width of the laminate film strip has been inspected, and as aresult, adherence of foreign substances could be detected at 560locations.

In contrast, in the case of the polarizing film strip F with thereleasable liner strip S attached thereto, adherence of foreignsubstances could be detected at 400 locations under the same condition.

Thus, given that an average number of detected locations in the case ofthe polarizing film strip F from which the releasable liner strip S hasbeen removed is a detection rate of 100%, the detection rate in the caseof the polarizing film strip F with the releasable liner strip S was(400/560)×100=71.4%.

In the same manner, as to the result of detection of knick, the defectswere detected at 380 locations in the case of the polarizing film stripF having the releasable liner strip S removed, and detected at 354locations in the case of the polarizing film strip F with the releasableliner strip S attached thereto. Thus, given that the detection result inthe case of the polarizing film strip F having the releasable linerstrip S removed is 100%, a knick detection rate in the case of thepolarizing film strip F with the releasable liner strip S was 93.2%.

FIG. 9 shows the above results. It should be noted that, a detectionaccuracy of foreign substances and the knick could be improved throughthe inspection of the polarizing film strip F after temporarily removingthe releasable liner strip S therefrom. This makes it possible tolaminate a high-quality polarizing film F to a liquid-crystal panel W.

(2) In the above embodiment, the defective polarizing film strip F iscollected by being laminated on the dummy substrate DW, however, in analternative way, the defective polarizing film may be collected by beinglaminated on a strip-shaped member.

For example, as shown in FIG. 10, the first guide roller 25 in thelaminating mechanism 5 may be designed to be selectively moved in avertical direction so as to increase a space for the laminatingoperation. Further, a second guide roller 36 may be disposed obliquelybelow the first guide roller 25 for bringing a strip-shaped member S3unrolled from a stock roll 33 of the member S3 and passed around acollection bobbin 35 in a collecting section 34 to a position opposed tothe laminating roller 26 for laminating the defective polarizing film Fto the strip-shaped member S3.

Specifically, when a defective polarizing film F is fed to thelaminating mechanism 5, the first guide roller 25 is moved downwardly toincrease the space below the laminating roller 26, as shown in FIG. 11,and then the second guide roller 36 is moved upwardly to the laminatingposition where the first guide roller 25 has been previously located, asshown in FIG. 12. Then, when the second guide roller 36 and thedefective polarizing film F have reached the laminating position, thelaminating roller 26 is moved downwardly to press and laminate thedefective polarizing film F to the releasable member S3, as shown inFIG. 13. In synchronization with these movements, the releasable-linercollecting section 6 and the strip-shaped member collecting section 34are operable to wind and collect the releasable liner S and thestrip-shaped member S3, respectively.

Upon completion of the laminating operation for the defective polarizingfilm F, the second guide roller 36 is moved downwardly to return to aretracted position, and the first guide roller 25 is moved upwardly toreturn to the laminating position.

(3) Although the system according to the above embodiment employs themechanism using the feed plate 22 to feed the leading edge of theliquid-crystal panel W, the present invention is not limited to such amechanism, but any other suitable mechanism may be adopted as long as itis capable of accurately feeding the liquid-crystal panel W to the firstguide roller 25. For example, the mechanism may be designed to conveythe liquid-crystal panel W directly from the roller conveyer toward thefirst guide roller 25.

(4) In the above embodiment, when a laser beam is moved to scan in thewidthwise direction of the polarizing film strip F, the optical axis ofthe laser beam is set to be perpendicular to the cutting position,however, in an alternative arrangement, the optical axis of the laserbeam may be set as follows.

As shown in FIG. 14, the laser unit 11 may be installed in an inclinedposture in such a manner that an optical axis R of the laser beamemitted from the unit is inclined to extend from the forward side of thetransverse scanning line of the laser beam as seen in the longitudinaltraveling direction of the polarizing film F toward the cuttingposition. In this case, an installation angle of the laser unit 11 isset such that an angle θ between the optical axis R of the laser beamand a reference axis perpendicular to the cutting position is in therange of 10 to 45 degrees. The installation angle θ is more preferablyset in the range of 20 to 45 degrees, particularly preferably in therange of 30 to 45 degrees.

When the installation angle θ is set in the above range, smoke generatedduring cutting of the lamination of the polarizing film strip F and theprotective film strip P flows from the cutting position obliquelyupwardly and backwardly in the traveling direction, as shown in FIGS. 14and 15. Thus, there is no risk of contamination in the cutting positionand its surrounding region of a surface of the protective film strip P,which may otherwise be caused by adhesion of foreign debris arising fromthe smoke.

In contrast, if the installation angle θ is less than 10 degrees, forexample zero degree as shown in FIG. 16, smoke generated during thecutting operation flows backwardly with respect to the scanning line ofthe laser beam in the traveling direction of the polarizing film F alongthe surface of the protective film strip P, so that the smoke is liableto cover the surface of the protective film strip P to cause adherenceof foreign substances, resulting in a higher degree of contamination.When the laser unit 11 is installed in an inclined posture to emit thelaser beam in such a manner that the optical axis R of the laser beam isinclined to extend from the rearward side of the laser scanning line asseen in the traveling direction toward the cutting position, smokegenerated during the cutting operation flows along the surface of theprotective film strip P, in the same manner as that in FIG. 16. This isalso liable to result in a higher degree of contamination. If theinstallation angle θ is greater than 45 degree, an incident angle of thelaser beam to the lamination of the polarizing film strip F and theprotective film strip P becomes extremely small to cause deteriorationin cutting accuracy.

Description will now be made with reference to specific examples wherethe laminations of the polarizing film strip F and the protective filmstrip P were half-cut under a condition that the installation angle θ ofthe laser unit 11 is changed among six different values. All theexamples were performed under the same condition in cutting by the laserunit 11, wherein the laser unit 11 employed a carbon dioxide laser beam,and a laser wavelength, a spot size, a cutting rate and a laser powerwere set at 10.6 nm, 150 nm, 24 m/min and 32 W, respectively. Theinstallations θ of the laser unit in Examples 5 to 11 were set at zerodegree, 10 degrees, 15 degrees, 20 degrees, 30 degrees, 40 degrees and45 degrees, respectively.

TABLE 2 Angle (θ) width of attachment (mm) Example 5 0 1.65 Example 6 100.90 Example 7 15 0.80 Example 8 20 0.35 Example 9 30 0.10 Example 10 40Non Example 11 45 Non

Observation has been made on the degree of contamination on the surfaceof the protective film P after cutting operation in each Example. As aresult, the width (as measured in the traveling direction) of the areawhere foreign substances are adhered around the cutting position was 0.9mm in the Example 6 and it has been observed that the width becomessmaller as the angle θ is increased in the order from the Example 7 tothe Example 11. Particularly, in the Examples 10 and 11, no adherence offoreign substances was observed.

In contrast, as seen in Table 2, the width of the area having foreignsubstances adhered thereon in the Example 5 is 1.65 mm, and it has beenrecognized that the degree of contamination is almost two times greaterthan that in the other Examples 6 to 11.

As described above, the adherence of foreign substances at the cuttingposition and the surrounding region due to smoke generated during thecutting operation can be suppressed by installing the laser unit in aninclined posture in such a manner that the optical axis R of the laserbeam is inclined to extend from a forward side in the travelingdirection of the film relative to and toward the cutting position.

In place of a carbon dioxide laser beam, any other suitable laser beammay be appropriately adopted depending on an intended purpose. Forexample, a YAG laser beam or a UV laser beam may be used.

(5) In each of the above embodiments, use has been made of a polarizingfilm strip having a releasable liner S conformably adhered to a firstsurface thereof and a protective film strip P conformably adhered to theother, second surface thereof, however, it is possible to use apolarizing film strip having only such releasable liner S on one facebut having no protective film strip P on the other face. In using suchpolarizing film strip, the apparatus shown in FIGS. 3 to 6 and FIGS. 10to 16 may be used to laminate a polarizing film F on a liquid crystalpanel W simply by eliminating the protective film P from the embodimentsin these drawings.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As above, the present invention is suitable for use in automaticallylaminating an optical element cut to a given length, to a sheet-shapedbody.

1-14. (canceled)
 15. An apparatus for inspecting continuous filmlaminate including an optically functional continuous film having areleasable film adhered to one of the opposite sides thereof, orincluding an optically functional continuous film having a releasablefilm adhered to one of the opposite sides thereof and a protective filmadhered to the other side thereof, for a presence of any defect in saidoptically functional film, and making the film laminate usable in alaminating apparatus for laminating the optically functional film to aproduct panel, the apparatus comprising: a delivering device forunwinding the continuous film laminate from a roll and delivering thelaminate toward an inspection station; a releasing device for releasingthe releasable film from the film laminate before the film laminatereaches the inspection station; an inspection device for inspecting theoptically functional film from which the releasable film is released forthe presence of any defect; a control device for calculating coordinateposition of a defect if such defect has been detected; and a releasablefilm laminating device for unwinding a releasable film from a roll andlaminating the unwound releasable film to said one side of the opticallyfunctional continuous film after the inspection has been completed. 16.An apparatus in accordance with claim 15 further including an opticalfilm laminating device located downstream side of the releasable filmlaminating device for laminating an optically functional film to aproduct panel member.
 17. An apparatus adapted to use a continuous filmlaminate including an optically functional continuous film at leasthaving a releasable film releasably adhered to one of the opposite sidesthereof, and for providing sheets of optically functional film eachhaving a predetermined length by at least partially cutting saidoptically functional continuous film, and laminating said sheets ofoptically functional film to corresponding ones of product panels; theapparatus comprising: a cutting device for cutting said continuous filmlaminate along cutting lines extending transversely across saidcontinuous film laminate, said cutting lines being spaced apart eachother in a longitudinal direction of said continuous film laminate by adistance corresponding to one of dimensions of said product panel, saidcontinuous film laminate being cut from a side opposite to the sidewhere said releasable film is adhered to a depth reaching an interfacebetween said optically functional film and said releasable film so as todefine a sheet of optically functional film between each twolongitudinally adjacent cutting lines; a releasing device for releasingsaid sheet of optically functional film from said releasable film atsaid laminating station by advancing said releasable film along an acuteangle path where said releasable film is reversed in its direction ofmovement; a panel delivering device for delivering a product panel tosaid laminating station so that the product panel is registered with thesheet of optically functional film released from said releasable film;and a laminating device for laminating said sheet of opticallyfunctional film to said product panel by pressing said sheet ofoptically functional film to said product panel.
 18. An apparatusadapted to use a continuous film laminate including an opticallyfunctional continuous film at least having a releasable film releasablyadhered to one of the opposite sides thereof, and for providing sheetsof optically functional film each having a predetermined length by atleast partially cutting said optically functional continuous film, andlaminating said sheets of optically functional film to correspondingones of product panels; said apparatus comprising: an inspection devicefor inspecting said continuous film laminate for a presence of anydefect in said optically functional film while it is moved through theinspection device; a control device for calculating a coordinateposition of a defect when such defect is detected, said control devicebeing operable to determine cutting lines extending transversely acrosssaid continuous film laminate, said cutting lines being spaced aparteach other in a longitudinal direction of said continuous film laminateby a distance corresponding to one of dimensions of said product panel;a cutting device for cutting sequentially said continuous film laminatealong said cutting lines, said continuous film laminate being cut from aside opposite to the side where said releasable film is adhered, to adepth reaching an interface between said optically functional film andsaid releasable film so as to define a sheet of optically functionalfilm between two longitudinally adjacent cutting lines, said controldevice being operable to classify the sheet of optically functional filmcontaining the defect as a defective sheet, the remaining sheets asnon-defective sheets, said control device being further operable todetermine if the coordinate position of the defect is located betweentwo longitudinally adjacent cutting lines, and if the coordinateposition of the defect is located between said longitudinally adjacentcutting lines, to determine another cutting line at a position apredetermined distance apart toward upstream side from said coordinateposition of the defect, for substitution for the upstream side one ofsaid two longitudinally adjacent cutting lines; a transporting devicefor transporting the continuous film laminate from the cutting device toa laminating station; a releasing device for releasing said sheet ofoptically functional film from said releasable film at said laminatingstation by advancing said releasable film along an acute angle pathwhere said releasable film is reversed in its direction of movement; aproduct panel delivering device for delivering a product panel to saidlaminating station when a non-defective sheet of optically functionalfilm is transported to the laminating station so that the product panelis registered with the non-defective sheet of optically functional filmreleased from said releasable film; and a laminating device forlaminating said non-defective sheet of optically functional film to saidproduct panel by pressing said sheet of optically functional film tosaid product panel.
 19. An apparatus in accordance with claim 18 furtherincluding a releasable film releasing device provided upstream of saidinspection device for releasing said releasable film from said opticallyfunctional film prior to inspection, and a releasable film laminatingdevice provided downstream of said inspection device for laminating areleasable film to said optically functional film after inspection.